Toranomon, Tokyo’s Building Owners Abducted and Still Missing while Gangsters Took Over their Business!

The Toranomon Sangyo Building stands in a prime location directly above Toranomon Subway Station, within walking distance of the National Diet Building, Kasumigaseki, and the U.S. Embassy. The nine-story building, valued at approximately 4 billion yen for the land and building combined, is the scene of a battle without honor between the building’s owners and the building’s tenants. Ms. Tomoko Tomikawa (pseudonym), a housekeeper who has been taking care of Mr. A, the owner of the building, for more than 20 years, testifies.

The building was owned and managed by Mr. A’s family company, but when his parents and brother passed away, Mr. A took over the building, and since Mr. A was mentally disabled, I assisted him in his daily life, as I had done since his father’s generation. The two directors who had supported the company had substantial control over the building.”

“On April 20, an incident occurred. In the morning, the housekeeper saw two young men appear at the house and took Mr.. A out for a walk.”

Ms. Tomikawa continues, “Mr. A did not come home. He left his cell phone at home. In fact, the young man who came to the house was a familiar face; he had been coming in and out of the house for about a year and was a subordinate of the president, Mr. X, who had been good to Mr. A, giving him sumo tickets, treating him to meals, and so on. So it never occurred to me that Mr. A would be abducted.

I immediately called the police, and I also called X, but although he said he would take me to see Mr. A, he suddenly just ignored me. What shocked me was that he said, “We are protecting him so that the other party will not take him away.” Ms. Tomikawa continued.

The least we could do was to tell them that Mr. A’s cousin B, who is assisting Mr. A, was with him, since he too had not returned home and was missing.

Actually, there was another incident that day. It took place in the same building.

“A man named P and Q came in and took over Mr. A’s company. P is a former gangster, and Q is a crime syndicate, or anti-society. Since the building was registered as of the same day, the president’s seal and the deed to the building must have been taken from them,” said a Toranomon Sangyo Building official.

The situation was not limited to the building takeover; Mr. A had a house in Akasaka, but on April 21, his address was changed to Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture, and his house was mortgaged for 200 million yen. An acquaintance of Mr. A feared that his house might also be taken over.

“There was an organization that tried to buy B’s land title for twice the actual price a couple of years ago,” said A. “X and the P&Q duo are a different group. There was an organization that tried to buy B’s ownership of the land for double the price. I think the Toranomon Sangyo Building has been targeted since then.”

Journalist Hirotoshi Ito, who is well versed in the landowner case, explains.

They work in teams of three to ten people, and the roles are divided among them. The Toranomon Sangyo Building was probably discovered by the person in charge of finding land that was in a remote area, was in an institution due to old age, or had problems with the owner’s ability to manage it. Once the catch is determined, the next step is for the forger, known as a “niben,” to rewrite the registration and other documents. Once the land has been taken in this way, the “jichi-shi” sells it through a real estate broker.

P and Q successfully took over the company, but in June, they were sued in court to confirm the invalidity of the resolution of the shareholders’ meeting and were dismissed from their posts as directors. We called Mr. X to find out if this was a lawsuit brought by X to get rid of P and Q. The plaintiff was Mr. A, who was supposed to be missing.

–I called X directly and asked him about the Toranomon Sangyo Building case.

I’m sorry, but I can’t answer.

–Is it about Mr. A, too?

Yes. I’ve received requests for interviews from brokers and various other people, but I’ve turned them all down. I am in court right now, and my lawyer is stopping me. Even if I make some claims against you, it will not prove my innocence.

Mr. Tomikawa, the housekeeper, said she goes to Mr. A’s parents’ graveside every day to apologize.

Mr. A suffers from diabetes and I am worried about whether he is taking his medication properly.

Four months have passed since her abduction.

From the September 2, 2022 issue of FRIDAY